Slipping Through My Fingers
by longislandhottie9
Summary: "Rachel!" Rachel turned with an almost excited look on her face. This was it. This was the moment that Quinn was going to tell her everything.


**So I'm at a roadblock with "What is this Feeling?" and decided to write this for fun.**

**Title taken from the song from the Broadway show/movie "Mamma Mia". Or the song by ABBA. However you want to look at it. However, the story has nothing to do with the song.**

**Note: Takes place in McKinley High football stadium. I didn't state that at all in the story so just telling you now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. :(**

The sun beat down on the sweltering students. Their families in the stands had the advantage of being in shorts and T-shirts, but the graduates had the misfortune to be trapped in their billowing gowns. They would have been comfortable on a breezy day, but there wasn't the slightest trace of wind in the air, and the cotton stuck to the students' skin, making them feel even more claustrophobic.

Quinn scanned the crowd of students, looking for Mercedes and her 7 ounce water bottle. It had been passing between the two girls, and Quinn decided that 10 minutes was a fair amount of time to take a sip from a water bottle. She spotted the diva leaning forward in the row, waving her arm below the chair in front of her, trying to get Quinn's attention. Once Mercedes had caught her eye, she held up the empty water bottle and mouthed, "Sorry" with an apologetic expression on her face. Quinn smiled, letting her friend know it was fine that she had emptied their only source of hydration for the next half hour.

Quinn leaned back in her chair, sighing exasperatedly. For the umpteenth time that day, she twisted her blonde hair into a ponytail and placed it carefully over her shoulder. Quinn had curled her hair into perfect wavy locks that morning that made her tresses look like a halo surrounding her head. But now the golden locks were sticking to the back of her sweaty neck and didn't look angelic in the slightest. She wished she had kept the scrunchie on her wrist, but her mother had forced her to remove it because it made her look "unsophisticated". However, Quinn didn't think her hair sticking to the back of her neck was very refined, either.

The valedictorian was finally finishing her long winded speech that had left them sitting in the unbearable heat. As soon as the last word came out of her mouth, hats were in the air and woops and shouts echoed through the humid air. Quinn gratefully grabbed her tasseled hat and flung into the air. Her moist hair had just been set free when she was tackled with a hug from a flurry of blonde hair and black fabric. A wide smile spread across Quinn's face as she wrapped her arms around Brittany, who was jumping up and down.

"Hey, hey, watch it Fabray." A tan arm sliced between the two blondes. "That's my girlfriend you're hugging there. Don't get too cozy." Quinn withdrew her arms from around Brittany's torso and beamed at Santana. Quinn held out her arms towards the Latina. "You're so corny, Q," Santana scoffed playfully before stepping forward into the blonde's arms. The best friends stayed in the hug for a while, knowing that it would be a long time before they would see each other again. Santana was going to UCLA and Quinn had been accepted to Emerson. Two opposite sides of the country. Who knew when the next time they hugged each other would be?

There was a tap on Quinn's shoulder. The blonde turned around to see Mercedes waiting with open arms. Quinn happily stepped into the hug while Brittany enveloped Tina in a hug on her left. As Quinn was looking over Mercedes' shoulder, she saw Finn hugging Sam. Definitely not like one of the hugs Brittany had given her. You could see they were trying to keep it cool, when all they wanted to do was stay like that until they were forced to go their separate ways.

Mercedes released Quinn and the blonde smiled at all of the girls before walking over to Finn and Sam, who were being joined by Puck and Mike, who was rolling Artie through the crowd. When Sam saw Quinn approaching them, he quickly jumped away from Finn and immediately pulled her into a tight hug. The familiar sensation of her heart being sliced in two pounded at her chest, but she swallowed the pain down and hugged Sam.

Quinn reluctantly let go of her ex-boyfriend and was enveloped in a group hug formed by Mike, Puck, and Finn. She smiled widely, pushing tears back into her eyes. After bending down to give Artie an awkward hug, Puck asked, "Where are the rest of my ladies at?" Quinn laughed, and led them back to the glee girls.

As the party neared the emotional group, Quinn's heart leapt into her throat. There she was. Standing in the middle of the circle of the sisters they had all become. There was her tan hand resting on Tina's shoulder as she threw back her head and laughed at something Tina had said. There were her chocolate tresses, lush and shining in the sun. There were her pearly white teeth radiant against her pink lips and tinted skin. There was her perfect body, accentuated in a skintight dress underneath her unzipped graduation gown.

As her musical laughter died out, she spotted the boys and Quinn a couple feet away.

"Quinn!" Rachel yelped and bounded over to the blonde and wrapped her arms around Quinn. Quinn, completely taken by surprise, slowly coiled her arms around the brunette and buried her face in Rachel's chocolate mane. Quinn breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of strawberries. She contentedly rested her head on Rachel's shoulder, until her senses snapped back to reality as she came to the realization that Rachel's hands were placed delicately on the small of Quinn's back. Quinn's cheeks burned impossibly hotter and she pulled out of the hug only to find Rachel's smiling lips inches from hers. Quinn felt warm wetness and turned an even darker shade of red. The realization of her arousal made Quinn pull back just far enough so that she wouldn't attack Rachel's lips and every other part of her body.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Quinn," the brunette whispered. And she pulled the blonde back in for another hug.

"I'm going to miss you, too," Quinn breathed in Rachel's ear. Rachel would never know how _much_ Quinn would miss her.

"So!" Puck boomed from where he had his arms slung casually over Mercedes and Santana. "Beers at my place?" There was silence except for the background noise of congratulations and distant laughter. "What? We won Nationals—two years in a row. And Mr. Schue bought us that crap bottle of sparkling cider every year. Come on; just a few celebratory beers."

"What exactly would we be celebrating?" Finn asked.

"The fact that we're…finally out of this hell hole?" Puck offered.

Artie shook his head. "These were the best years of our lives. It might have been hell sometimes, but mostly it was just home," he said.

"Artie's right, you guys," Rachel declared softly. "We may be a crazy, dysfunctional family but…we're a close family. And we're supposed to celebrate the separation of that tight bond?" The brunette looked around at the sorrowful faces. "When the first one of us leaves, our chain will be mangled. It may not be broken, but it will definitely be distorted." She looked into Quinn's eyes, looking for understanding from the ex-cheerleader. Quinn wanted to say something, but the way Rachel was looking at her, and the fact that the brunette's arm was still slung around her waist just made her melt.

"So we don't get to drink beer?" Brittany questioned. Everyone smiled fondly at the oblivious blonde.

"No beer," Rachel stated her voice stronger. "I say that we all go back to someone's house and just remini-"

"Rachel!" The glee club turned to see Rachel's dad, Lyman hurrying towards the group, looking frantic. "Our flights were booked wrong. We're leaving for New York today."

A bewildered look crossed the diva's face. "What? How much time do we have?" she asked nervously.

Her father took a deep breath before answering, "We have about an hour and a half."

Tears that Rachel had been holding back rose to the surface and spilled over the tops of her eyelids. "That's it?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Quinn felt sadness and anger surge up in her chest. She was trying to form a proper thought but all that crossed her mind was "Rachel's leaving. Our chain is not mangled. It's broken." The blonde looked at all of her brothers; all of her sisters. Looks of astonishment and sorrow were the expressions now taking over their previously happy dispositions. Everyone knew Rachel was going to be one of the first of the glee club members to be leaving. She had been accepted to Juilliard, as was expected, and the transition from Lima, Ohio to New York, New York would be a strenuous one, to say the least. However, no one expected her departure to occur so suddenly.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Lyman tried. "If we don't leave today, we have to wait until after the school year starts."

"Just…um…let me say my goodbyes." Rachel was trying desperately hard to keep her composure. Lyman nodded knowingly and ran off, presumably to retrieve his husband and car.

Rachel may have put on a nice show for her father, but the second Brittany had enveloped the tiny brunette in her arms, the diva broke down in tears. The entire glee club encircled the weeping girl in a hug that turned her tears of sorrow into tears of joy—if only for a second. Rachel then hugged each member of her family one by one.

When her arms wrapped around Quinn's body, the blonde could feel Rachel's tears soaking right through her gown. She was no longer affected by the heat. Instead, Quinn felt cold and empty. She held onto the brunette for as long as she could. Rachel pulled away, and as she began to walk away, Quinn called out.

"Rachel!" Rachel turned with an almost excited look on her face. This was it. This was the moment that Quinn was going to tell her everything. She was going to tell her how she'd been in love with the diva since 9th grade. How she ridiculed her to conceal her true feelings. How she had joined glee club because of her, not Finn. How she had hated April Rhodes for even _thinking_ she could take Rachel's place. How she would have voted for her in the "Defying Gravity" diva-off even if Kurt had nailed it. How she made the Glist so that it would seem as if she was the slightest badass—something that would get Rachel's attention. How she would have much rather moved in with her than with Mercedes. How she had wished that Rachel was holding her hand while she had her baby, not her mother. How Rachel's rendition of "Need You Now" turned her on immensely. How she chose glee over Cheerios because of her. How she had wished that Rachel had manned the kissing booth, not Finn. How her life had been changed for the better. _Because of her. _

"Good luck in New York," Quinn said softly.

Rachel looked almost disappointed. "Good luck to you, too, Quinn." The brunette managed a weak smile through her tears. Then she turned around and walked away.

And Quinn had let her. She had let her own heart break. She had let Rachel slip right through her fingers.

**Even though it's a pointless one shot, I would love some reviews! :)**


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